Microsoft Unveils a New Corporate Logo

At the grand opening of its new retail store in Boston, Massachusetts, Microsoft announced a new corporate logo, marking the first time in 25 years that the software giant has made such a change. The new logo is based on that for the Microsoft Store and features the same simple lines and opaque colors used in the logos for Windows 8, Windows Phone, Office 2013, and the Xbox.

“In advance of one of the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft’s history, today we are unveiling a new logo for the company,” Microsoft general manager of brand strategy Jeff Hansen writes in a post to the Official Microsoft Blog. “Now is the perfect time for a change. This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products.”

Here’s the new logo:

The new logo follows a 25-year run for the previous, iconic logo:

Unlike the old logo, the new logo feature two components, Microsoft says: A new, Metro-like symbol (the four-colored set of squares) and a logotype that utilizes the now-common Segoe font. Together, these two pieces combine to form the new logo.